% to 25%, they thoughtmr.romneywonthedebate. whenasked who was more likeable, debate watchers gave the two candidates essentially equal marks. that's one piece of spin that doesn't quite pass the sniff test. decide for yourself if this one does from the campaign's ben lebold who suggested mitt romney last night was acting. >> it was performance art. he locked himself into some bad positions that he took during the republican primary, tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, refusing to ask the wealthiest for a dime to reduce the deficit and those give us big openings to talk about on the campaign trail in key states in the weeks ahead. >> vice president biden, meantime, said his boss did a good job during a bright line between his policies and mitt romney's. >> i think the president did a wonderful job in making it clear just how stark that choice is. >> keeping them honest, that is precisely where the pundits, even those who support president obama, say he dropped the ball and when we asked our viewers whether mr. obama did better or worse than expected, 61%, nearly two i

in denver, wherethedebatewasheld and where this morning the hometown paper scores it roundone,romney. theleft-leaning slate.com's john dickerson calling it the best moment of mitt romney's campaign. obama supporter andrew sullivan calls it the president's worst public performance bar none of his campaign. "time" magazine's joe kline asked did the president send out his body double tonight. the consensus and also the political reality now stairing team obama in the face. there is also no denying that no matter who wins or loses a given debate, each side immediately tries to convince you and us that their candidate came out ahead. there's even that designated spin room, the one in denver, and yes, they actually call it that, the spin room. which is everyone's way of saying with a wink and a nod that we know that you know that we know that you know that we're trying to bamboozle you. again, that's a given. both times spin. but keeping them honest tonight, there's spin and then there's spin. shortly after president obama turned in a performance in which he was widely perceived as dull a